https://www.midarkskypark.orgAmerica/DetroitAmerica/DetroitAmerica/Detroit20191103T020000-0400-0500EST20190310T020000-0500-040020200308T020000EDTai1ec-1235@www.midarkskypark.org20190915T095919Z
Lantern walking through November woods at Headlands
We know it’s still football season under the big stadium lights of fall, but it’s also the peak of the lion’s meteor shower and you’re invited to join us under the dark of night at Headlands for a beautiful experience under the starry skies.
Program Director Mary Stewart Adams will meet guests at the Headlands entrance and give a guided tour through the beautiful moonlit woods to the viewing area at the shoreline, to catch the falling stars and hear further tales of the night. This is a one mile walk in the woods, and guests are invited to bring lanterns, to coincide with seasonal traditions of taking lantern walks into dark November nights. Please be prepared with walking shoes and layers of warm clothes. The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks overhead at this time, as earth travels through the wake of starry stuff left in the trail of the Comet Temple-Tuttle.
“The Leonid is a really variable meteor shower,” said Adams, “but it’s also one of the most historically significant, because it gave rise to the science and study of meteor showers when it caused an incredible outburst in the early 1800s. And it’s November, when tradition holds that taking a walk by lantern light is done to celebrate the strength of inner light despite the challenge of growing, outer darkness.”
The Moon will be Full just a few days prior to the peak of the Leonid Meteor Shower, and while that can diminish views of the less bright meteors, there is still the promise of beautiful stargazing. Orion will be solidly over the horizon in the east, chasing the star cluster of the Pleiades across the sky, and the Andromeda Galaxy will be seen spiraling directly overhead. In addition to providing star maps and a guided walking tour by lantern light, we’ll have our telescopes out for peering deeper into the night while we wait for wishing stars to fall through the sky! Participants should dress for low temperatures. “These colder nights make for some great stargazing because there’s less haze in the atmosphere, and the dark seems to be more velvety and richer” said Adams.
The radiant of the Leonid Meteor Shower is in the sickle, or head region of the mighty Lion20161118T22000020161118T234500+45.772028;-84.787395Shoreline viewing area at Headlands @ Headlands Rd, Mackinaw City, MI 49701, USA0‘Friday Night (No) Lights’ for the Leonidsfreethumbnail;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Leonidchart-150x150.jpg;150;150;1,medium;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Leonidchart-300x238.jpg;300;238;1,large;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Leonidchart.jpg;520;413;Dark Sky Park,Headlands,lantern walk,Leonid,Temple-Tuttleai1ec-4228@www.midarkskypark.org20190915T095919ZJoin us in celebrating the terrific resources that make up Emmet County’s Headlands property at the Grand Opening of our new Waterfront Event Center and Observatory on Thursday, June 22 from 2 to 6 pm. The grand opening will include several terrific guest speakers, tours of the grounds and facilities, dedication of the Roger McCormick Planewave Telescope, and spectacular views!
The grounds at Headlands Waterfront Event Center and Observatory20170622T14000020170622T180000Waterfront Event Center0GRAND OPENING OF THE WATERFRONT EVENT CENTERfreethumbnail;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/G0318218-150x150.jpg;150;150;1,medium;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/G0318218-300x225.jpg;300;225;1,large;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/G0318218-1024x768.jpg;1024;768;1,full;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/G0318218.jpg;3000;2250;Ash Dome,Dark Sky Park,Emmet County,Headlands,Lake Michigan,Planewave,Roger McCormick,Waterfront Centerai1ec-4231@www.midarkskypark.org20190915T095919ZOur Coast Guard friend Joe Komjathy’s shot of the Moon through our Takahashi Telescope, just a few short weeks before it overtakes the Sun at eclipse on Monday, August 21st.
If you aren’t able to get into the path of totality for the biggest celestial event of the year, you can view partiality through the solar telescope at Headlands but PLEASE NOTE: Only 78% of the Sun will appear to be eclipsed from our location.
We will have our Observatory open with the Lunt Solar Telescope streaming live eclipse action onto the large screens in our Event Center program space, and solar filter telescopes set up outside for safe viewing. In addition, we will have a limited number of eclipse glasses for sale. We expect to be busy, so plan your visit with the following in mind:
The entire process from first contact of Moon with Sun until its end is about two hours and 40 minutes.
The Moon will begin to eclipse the Sun at 12:59 pm, edt.
Maximum eclipse, during which 78% of Sun appears blocked by Moon, will happen at 2:23 pm.
The eclipse will end at 3:39 pm.
The best plan is to consider the event like an open house, and to decide which thing you most want to see, first contact, maximum eclipse, or the “dying moments”. Then, you can come for that experience, and stay for all or part of the rest.
At Headlands we will also have live video stream from the path of totality, and eclipse-related crafts. Our Program Director, Mary Stewart Adams, will do occasional Facebook live video from Oregon where she will be at the leading edge of the path of totality.
We expect to be busy, so arrive early for parking near the Waterfront Event Center, or be prepared to take a beautiful walk through the woods from the parking at the entrance. Remember, this eclipse will occur during broad daylight, so a woods walk is a pleasant way to journey!
Bring snacks and beverages.
If you would like more information about this, or any of our events, please call 231-348-1713, or email darksky@emmetcounty.org20170821T12300020170821T154500Waterfront Event Center0The Great American Solar Eclipsefreethumbnail;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_9251-225x300.jpg;225;300,medium;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_9251-225x300.jpg;225;300,large;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_9251-225x300.jpg;225;300,full;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_9251-225x300.jpg;225;300Dark Sky Park,Emmet County,Headlands,Lake Michigan,Lunt,solar eclipseai1ec-4235@www.midarkskypark.org20190915T095919ZOn its path through our planetary system, Comet Temple-Tuttle leaves its trail of stars in the region of the Lion
One of history’s most prolific meteor showers, the Leonids, comes to its peak this weekend, November 17-18, 2017, and Headlands will offer an evening program indoors and a night hike outdoors to set the stage. The Leonid Meteor Shower Program will happen on Friday, November 17, from 8 to 10 pm at the Waterfront Event Center and Observatory. The program is free, and participants can park in the main lot near the event center.
The Leonid Meteor Shower is caused by the trail of stuff left in the wake of the Comet Tempel-Tuttle as it speeds through our planetary system. Known as a periodic comet, Tempel-Tuttle was discovered in 1865, the same year that the American Civil War ended, and that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In 1833 the Leonids produced such a storm of meteors that people across North America thought it was a portent of the end of times. Instead, it marked the beginning of “meteor shower science”, which led astronomers to understand that meteor showers, though named for the constellation in front of which their radiant appears, are actually caused by comets.
“Comet Temple-Tuttle has an orbital periodicity of 33 years, and won’t be seen again in our planetary system until 2031, but its meteor shower happens every year, and coincides with the time of year when many cultures celebrate a tradition of carrying lanterns out into the night, to stave of the early darkness of the season and the coming cold temperatures. I love to think of it as the Lion shaking out his starry mane. The Lion is often associated with courage and compassion and leadership,” said Headlands program Director Mary Stewart Adams.
The Leonids will not be diminished by moonlight this year, since New Phase coincides nearly with the peak of the shower, which is after midnight. “Our program is really about preparing for the shower with observing the Leonid sky, hearing the stories of this shower, learning the the science,” said Adams.20171117T20000020171117T220000Waterfront Event Center0Leonid Meteor Showerfreethumbnail;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/leo-constellation-art-150x150.jpg;150;150;1,medium;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/leo-constellation-art-300x241.jpg;300;241;1,large;https://www.midarkskypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/leo-constellation-art.jpg;570;458;Emmet County,Headlands,Leonid,meteor showers,Temple-Tuttle